Climate-change skeptic to talk to 'tea party' groups

by Lesley Wright - May. 25, 2012 09:53 PMThe Republic | azcentral.com

The Surprise Tea Party Patriots, which won national exposure this month by continuing to question President Barack Obama's birth certificate, will host a speech by British global-warming skeptic Lord Christopher Monckton on Monday.

The talk will be at Sun City West Foundation Plaza, 14465 W. R.H. Johnson Blvd., and donations will go to Sheriff Joe Arpaio's cold-case posse.

Monckton and conservative author Tom Ballantyne also will speak to the Red Mountain Tea Party. That talk will be Tuesday at East Valley High School, 7420 E. Main St., in Mesa.

Arpaio has cited petitions from the Surprise group as the impetus to send his cold-case posse to Hawaii to investigate Obama's birth certificate.

Monckton, the third viscount of Brenchley, also has waded into the controversy. While denying that he is a "birther," Monckton told syndicated radio host Dennis Miller in March that he believes the birth certificate posted by the White House is a forgery that can be taken apart with software.

The controversial speaker has had a varied career in journalism, politics and business. His biography states that he served as a science-policy adviser to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

He has given speeches around the world based on his theory that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere essentially is harmless and that scientists and politicians have manipulated data to exaggerate the problem.

Mainstream scientists around the world disagree.

Surprise Tea Party founder Jim Wise said Monckton was invited because the group seeks out alternate views.

"Our main thrust is education, and he has a perspective on climate change," Wise said.

'Tea Party' speeches

Surprise Tea Party Patriots speech: 6:30 p.m. Monday. Sun City West Foundation Plaza, 14465 W. R.H. Johnson Blvd., Sun City West. The event costs $100 for Gold Patron seating, which includes a meet and greet, and is free for other seats.